Caffeine

How many cups of coffee do you drink per day? Monsters? Diet Cokes? Amps? Today's society often devalues sleep, so we look to caffeine - a drug that increases alertness, energy, and muscle coordination - to get us through our days. Like many drugs, caffeine has benefits and consequences. It can help relieve headaches, but can also cause them; caffeine in your body acts similarly to amphetamines, making you feel good for a bit but then can cause a "low period", which may contribute to physical dependency. It can help speed up metabolism and boost energy before a workout, but can also elevate levels of cortisol in your bloodstream (a stress hormone that causes weight gain) and leave you craving carbohydrates and fat.

Be sure to consume caffeine in moderation to avert potential addiction. It is also a natural dehydrator, so drink plenty of water along with your energy drink. Choose your forms of caffeine wisely: it naturally occurs in tea and chocolate. While coffee is a great energy booster, it is very acidic and inhibits nutrient absorption in your body if you drink it during meal-time. Other energy drinks, including Red Bull, Monster, Amp, and Rockstar, contain lots of chemicals and preservatives that your body doesn't like, so try to keep those to a minimum if you can help it.

As I drink this cup a joe, I salute you, o drinkers of caffeine, and advise you that caffeine is a drug, so use it sensibly and with discretion. And, of course, get some more sleep!! Here's an article I found on the NPR website this morning with a little more information.

http://www.npr.org/2011/06/06/136921303/think-twice-before-reaching-for-a-caffeine-boost